Worth the Trip
You may have noticed that Ingram's never reviews brand new restaurants. The reason is simple--they can often disappear quickly. We have a six month rule, as a minimum.
40 Sardines off 119th and Roe in SoJoCo has met the test, despite the come-and-die notoriety of that location for less fortunate restaurants. Having eaten there several times in the first flush of the most hyped restaurant opening in KC, I was anxious to see if Debbie Gold and Michael Smith, formerly of The American (probably still my fave in town), have actually sustained their reputation as two of the best chefs in town, ones worthy of a trek to the golden suburbs for even the staunchest of midtown friends.
They have.
There's lots to like here. It's a pretty place, tastefully done, with a terrific bar and bar menu. We promptly ordered one of the 20 $20 wines, the Berberana "Dragon" Tempranillo from Spain, a zesty red that even pleased our white-drinking friend. They have 22 by the glass and then 22 half bottles, from $17 to $49--then there's the wine list, which we didn't even open. We were happy with our inexpensive wine selection.
That's a good thing, because our conservative (about spending money on food anyway) lawyer friend pretty much blanched when he saw the one crab cake for $12 we ordered. Beautiful with its "escabeche" of cherry tomatoes and green tomato-lemon confit relish, he grumbled as he divided it up--but then we tasted it. The grilled mozzarella and tomato confit triple decker stood tall so we deconstructed it and just lapped up the buttery almost-toast. If I had one complaint about the menu, it would be that their appetizers are hard to share--but they are delish.
On the other hand, we could readily get our salads split. My portly companion and I had the special salad with grape tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and wild asparagus from South Dakota, nearly spaghetti thin and mildly flavored. What we weren't told was that it cost $13. Yikes. Our friends chose the cheaper house salad and pronounced it satisfying.
We paced ourselves to a leisurely and talkative meal. Our waitress was very accommodating, pleasant and waited for us, rather than interrupting. Hurrah! But she neglected to tell Chubby that the fingerling potatoes with crème fraiche (yummy) cost an extra $4--seems like there should have been a trade-in price for the mashed potatoes he opted out of, especially as his short ribs were $24. Oh well, I guess we should read the menu more carefully--and they did melt in my mouth. There were 11 entrees, of which five (and the special that night) were fish ranging from $21 to $26; one pasta (the least expensive meal at $17), one chicken, two beef (who else would take a 12 ounce ribeye and serve it with pistachio onion relish--just sounded delectable), and two pork dishes.
Anyhoo, as granma used to say, I had the wahoo. A mild flavored game fish I'd never heard of, it's also known as ono, Oahu, pacific kingfish or ocean barracuda. (No wonder they settled on wahoo.) It was scrumptiously tender. The ever-popular halibut wrapped in a wonton and guarded by su-miso glazed veggies and Japanese yams was perfectly done as was the red snapper resting on a bed on lentils.
Skipping the eight "artisinal farm house cheeses," we managed to finish up with four fabulous desserts: the lemon meringue square "pie" with its little whipped cream "kisses"; a chocolate coconut sliver of cake, rich and hazelnutty; a better-even-than-mom's strawberry covered pound cake with lemon curd whipped cream; and a blackberry soaked brioche with raspberries, blackberries and mascarpone cream. Oh, my.
Debbie and Michael are definitely at home in southern Johnson County and for either lunch or dinner, it's well worth the trek. If you haven't been there, it's time to go. Personally, I'm going back for that ribeye.